RFQ - Recidivism Reduction (9-17-14).pdf

Rev. 02-15-13 i

CONSULTING SERVICES ITQ

CONTRACT 4400007410

REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS FOR

Recidivism Reduction Research & Evaluation

ISSUING OFFICE

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Bureau of Planning, Research & Statistics

RFQ NUMBER

RFQ #PRS 2014-1

DATE OF ISSUANCE

9-17-14

This is a restricted solicitation under the Commonwealth’s Consulting Services, Invitation to Qualify (ITQ), - Contract #4400007410. Only those contractors qualified in the following service category(s) under Contract #4400007410 may submit a proposal in response to this RFQ.

Management General Government Operations – Program Evaluation and Benchmarking

For more information about the Consulting Services ITQ, please click on the following link.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/invitation_to_qualify/4641/wher_to_star t/495422 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/invitation_to_qualify/4641/wher_to_start/495422 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/invitation_to_qualify/4641/wher_to_start/495422

Rev. 02-15-13 ii

REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS

FOR

Recidivism Reduction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS iii

Part I—GENERAL INFORMATION 4-12

Part II—PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS 13-18

Part III—CRITERIA FOR SELECTION 19-23

Part IV—WORK STATEMENT 24-31

APPENDIX A, PROPOSAL COVER SHEET

APPENDIX B, DOMESTIC WORKFORCE UTILIZATION CERTIFICATION

APPENDIX C, COST MATRIX

APPENDIX D, LOBBYING CERTIFICATION FORM

APPENDIX E, TRADE SECRET/CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION NOTICE

APPENDIX F, SMALL DIVERSE BUSINESS LETTER OF INTENT

ATTACHMENT 1, DATA ANALYSIS

Rev. 02-15-13 iii

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The Commonwealth will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:

Activity Responsibility Date

Deadline to submit Questions via email to: Russ Ilgenfritz at rilgenfrit@pa.gov

Contractors 9-24-14

Preproposal Conference – PA Department of Corrections, 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050

Issuing Office/ Contractors

10-2-14

10:00AM

Answers to Potential Contractor questions posted to DGS emarketplace website:

www.emarketplace.state.pa.us no later than this date.

Issuing Office 10-8-14

Please monitor the DGS emarketplace website www.emarketplace.state.pa.us for all communications regarding the RFQ.

Contractors

Sealed proposal must be received by the Issuing Office at PA Department of Corrections, 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050

Contractors 10-30-14

2:00PM

http://www.emarketplace.state.pa.us/

Rev. 10-24-13

PART I

GENERAL INFORMATION

I-1. Purpose This Request for Quotes ("RFQ") provides sufficient information to qualified Contractors to enable them to prepare and submit proposals for the Pennsylvania Department of Correction's consideration on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ("Commonwealth") to satisfy a need for research and evaluation of statewide recidivism reduction grant activities. ("Project").

I-2. Issuing Office The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) has issued this RFQ on behalf of the Commonwealth. The sole point of contact in the Commonwealth for this RFQ shall be Russ Ilgenfritz, 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, rilgenfrit@pa.gov, the Issuing Officer for this RFQ. Please refer all inquiries to the Issuing Officer.

I-3. Scope This RFQ contains instructions governing the requested proposals, including the requirements for the information and material to be included; a description of the service to be provided; requirements which Contractors must meet to be eligible for consideration;

general evaluation criteria; and other requirements specific to this RFQ.

I-4. Problem Statement The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections submitted a grant application to the United State Department of Justice (DOJ) to implement a strategic and coordinated approach to statewide recidivism reduction. If awarded, a third-party evaluator is required to inform evaluation planning and conduct both a process and impact evaluation. Additional detail is provided in Part IV of this RFQ

I-5. Preproposal Conference.

The Issuing Office will hold a preproposal conference as specified in the Calendar of Events.

The purpose of this conference is to provide opportunity for clarification of the RFQ.

Contractors should forward all questions to the Issuing Office in accordance with Section I- 6 to ensure adequate time for analysis before the Issuing Office provides an answer.

Contractors may also ask questions at the conference. In view of the limited facilities available for the conference, Contractors should limit their representation to two (2) individuals per Contractor. The preproposal conference is for information only. Any answers furnished during the conference will not be official until they have been verified, in writing, by the Issuing Office. All questions and written answers will be posted on the DGS emarketplace website www.emarketplace.state.pa.us as an addendum to, and shall become part of, this RFQ. Attendance at the Preproposal Conference is mandatory. Failure to attend the preproposal conference shall disqualify a Contractor from consideration for selection as the best value contractor for this RFQ, and its proposal will be returned unopened.

I-6. Questions and Answers If a Contractor has any questions regarding this RFQ, the Contractor must submit the questions by email (with the subject line "Consulting Services ITQ RFQ #PRS 2014-1 Question") to the Issuing Officer. If the Contractor has questions, they must be submitted via email no later than the date and time specified in the Calendar of Events. The Contractor shall not attempt to contact the Issuing Officer by any other means. The Issuing Officer shall post the answers to the DGS website.

A Contractor who submits a question after the deadline date for receipt of questions indicated on the Calendar of Events assumes the risk that its proposal will not be responsive or competitive because the Commonwealth is not able to respond before the proposal receipt date or in sufficient time for the Contractor to prepare a responsive or competitive proposal.

When submitted after the deadline date for receipt of questions indicated on the Calendar of Events, the Issuing Officer may respond to questions of an administrative nature by directing the questioning Contractor to specific provisions in the RFQ. To the extent that the Issuing Office decides to respond to a non-administrative question after the deadline date for receipt of questions indicated on the Calendar of Events, the answer will be provided to all Contractors through an addendum.

All questions and responses as posted on the [DGS] website are considered as an addendum to, and part of, this RFQ. Each Contractor shall be responsible to monitor the DGS website for new or revised RFQ information. The Issuing Office shall not be bound by any verbal information nor shall it be bound by any written information that is not either contained within the RFQ or formally issued as an addendum by the Issuing Office.

I-7. Addenda to RFQ If the Issuing Office deems it necessary to revise any part of this RFQ before the proposal response date, the Issuing Office will post an addendum to the www.emarketplace.state.pa.us website. Answers to the questions asked during the Questions & Answers period also will be posted to the www.emarketplace.state.pa.us website as an addendum to the RFQ.

I-8. Electronic Version of RFQ This RFQ is being made available by electronic means. The Contractor acknowledges and accepts full responsibility to insure that no changes are made to the RFQ. In the event of a conflict between a version of the RFQ in the Contractor's possession and the Issuing Office's version of the RFQ, the Issuing Office's version shall govern.

I-9. Response Date To be considered, proposals must arrive at the Issuing Office on or before the time and date specified in the RFQ Calendar of Events. Contractors who mail proposals should allow sufficient mail delivery time to ensure timely receipt of their proposals. If, due to inclement weather, natural disaster, or any other cause, the Issuing Office location to which proposals are to be returned is closed on the proposal response date, the deadline for submission shall be automatically extended until the next Commonwealth business day on which the office is open, unless the Contractors are otherwise notified by the Commonwealth. The time for submission of proposals shall remain the same. Late proposals shall not be considered.

I-10. Incurring Costs The Issuing Office is not liable for any costs the Contractor incurs in preparation and submission of its proposal, in participating in the RFQ process or in anticipation of receipt of the purchase order.

I-11. Economy Of Preparation Contractors should prepare proposals simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of the Contractor's ability to meet the requirements of the RFQ. Application proposals should not exceed twenty (20) pages, with appendices not exceeding ten (10) pages.

I-12. Small Diverse Business Information.

The Issuing Office encourages participation by small diverse businesses as prime contractors, and encourages all prime contractors to make a significant commitment to use small diverse businesses as subcontractors and suppliers.

A Small Diverse Business is a DGS-verified minority-owned business, woman-owned business, veteran-owned business or service-disabled veteran-owned business.

A small business is a business in the United States which is independently owned, not dominant in its field of operation, employs no more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees, and earns less than $7 million in gross annual revenues for building design, $20 million in gross annual revenues for sales and services and $25 million in gross annual revenues for those businesses in the information technology sales or service business.

Questions regarding this Program can be directed to:

Department of General Services Bureau of Small Business Opportunities Room 611, North Office Building Harrisburg, PA 17125 Phone: (717) 783-3119 Fax: (717) 787-7052 Email: gs-bsbo@pa.gov

Website: www.dgs.state.pa.us

The Department’s directory of BSBO-verified minority, women, veteran and service disabled veteran-owned businesses can be accessed from: Searching for Small Diverse Businesses.

mailto:gs-bsbo@pa.gov http://www.dgs.state.pa.us/ http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/searching_for_small_diverse_businesses/21094 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/searching_for_small_diverse_businesses/21094

I-13. Proposals To be considered, Contractors must submit a complete proposal to this RFQ, using the format provided in PART II, providing four (4) including an original, paper copies of the Technical Submittal and two (2) paper copies of the Cost Submittal and two (2) paper copies of the Small Diverse Business Submittal. In addition to the paper copies of the proposal, Contractors shall submit two (2) complete and exact copies of the entire proposal (Technical, Cost and Small Diverse Business Submittals, along with all requested documents) on CD-ROM or Flash drive in Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office-compatible format. The electronic copy must be a mirror image of the paper copy and any spreadsheets must be in Microsoft Excel. The Contractors may not lock or protect any cells or tabs.

Contractors should ensure that there is no costing information in the technical submittal.

Contractors should not reiterate technical information in the cost submittal. The CD or Flash drive should clearly identify the Contractor and include the name and version number of the virus scanning software that was used to scan the CD or Flash drive before it was submitted.

The Contractor shall make no other distribution of its proposal to any other Contractor or Commonwealth official or Commonwealth consultant. Each proposal page should be numbered for ease of reference. An official authorized to bind the Contractor to its provisions must sign the proposal. If the official signs the Proposal Cover Sheet (Appendix A to this RFQ) and the Proposal Cover Sheet is attached to the Contractor’s proposal, the requirement will be met. For this RFQ, the proposal must remain valid for one hundred and twenty (120) days or until a purchase order is executed. If the Issuing Office selects the Contractor’s proposal as the best value, the contents of the selected Contractor’s proposal will become, except to the extent the contents are changed through Best and Final Offers or negotiations, contractual obligations.

Each Contractor submitting a proposal specifically waives any right to withdraw or modify it, except that the Contractor may withdraw its proposal by written notice received at the Issuing Office’s address for proposal delivery prior to the exact hour and date specified for proposal receipt. A Contractor or its authorized representative may withdraw its proposal in person prior to the exact hour and date set for proposal receipt, provided the withdrawing person provides appropriate identification and signs a receipt for the proposal. A Contractor may modify its submitted proposal prior to the exact hour and date set for proposal receipt only by submitting a new sealed proposal or sealed modification which complies with the RFQ requirements.

I-14. Alternate Proposals.

The Issuing Office has identified the basic approach to meeting its requirements, allowing Contractors to be creative and propose their best solution to meeting these requirements.

The Issuing Office will not accept alternate proposals.

I-15. Proposal Contents

a. Confidential Information. The Commonwealth is not requesting, and does not require, confidential proprietary information or trade secrets to be included as part of Contractors’ submissions in order to evaluate proposals submitted in response to this RFQ. Accordingly, except as provided herein, Contractors should not label proposal submissions as confidential or proprietary or trade secret protected. Any Contractor who determines that it must divulge such information as part of its proposal must submit the signed written statement described in subsection c. below and must additionally provide a redacted version of its proposal, which removes only the confidential proprietary information and trade secrets, for required public disclosure purposes.

b. Commonwealth Use. All material submitted with the proposal shall be considered the property of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and may be returned only at the Issuing Office’s option. The Commonwealth has the right to use any or all ideas not protected by intellectual property rights that are presented in any proposal regardless of whether the proposal becomes part of a contract. Notwithstanding any Contractor copyright designations contained on proposals, the Commonwealth shall have the right to make copies and distribute proposals internally and to comply with public record or other disclosure requirements under the provisions of any Commonwealth or United States statute or regulation, or rule or order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

c. Public Disclosure. After the issuance of a purchase order pursuant to this RFQ, all proposal submissions are subject to disclosure in response to a request for public records made under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know-Law, 65 P.S. § 67.101, et seq. If a proposal submission contains confidential proprietary information or trade secrets, a signed written statement to this effect must be provided with the submission in accordance with 65 P.S. § 67.707(b) for the information to be considered exempt under 65 P.S. § 67.708(b)(11) from public records requests (See Appendix E, Trade Secret/Confidential Proprietary Information Notice). Financial capability information submitted in response to Part II, Section II-8 of this RFQ is exempt from public records disclosure under 65 P.S. § 67.708(b) (26).

I-16. Contractor’s Representations and Authorizations By submitting its proposal, each Contractor understands, represents, and acknowledges that:

a. All of the Contractor’s information and representations in the proposal are material and important, and the Issuing Office may rely upon the contents of the proposal in making a best value selection. The Commonwealth shall treat any misstatement, omission or misrepresentation as fraudulent concealment of the true facts relating to the proposal submission, punishable pursuant to 18 Pa. C.S. § 4904.

b. The Contractor has arrived at the price(s) and amounts in its proposal independently and without consultation, communication, or agreement with any other Contractor or potential Contractor.

c. The Contractor has not disclosed the price(s), the amount of the proposal, nor the approximate price(s) or amount(s) of its proposal to any other firm or person who is a Contractor or potential Contractor for this RFQ, and the Contractor shall not disclose any of these items on or before the proposal submission deadline specified in the Calendar of Events of this RFQ.

d. The Contractor has not attempted, nor will it attempt, to induce any firm or person to refrain from submitting a proposal on this contract, or to submit a proposal higher than this proposal, or to submit any intentionally high or noncompetitive proposal or other form of complementary proposal.

e. The Contractor makes its proposal in good faith and not pursuant to any agreement or discussion with, or inducement from, any firm or person to submit a complementary or other noncompetitive proposal.

f. To the best knowledge of the person signing the proposal for the Contractor, the

Contractor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, and employees are not currently under investigation by any governmental agency and have not in the last four years been convicted or found liable for any act prohibited by State or Federal law in any jurisdiction, involving conspiracy or collusion with respect to bidding or proposing on any public contract, except as the Contractor has disclosed in its proposal.

g. To the best of the knowledge of the person signing the proposal for the Contractor and except as the Contractor has otherwise disclosed in its proposal, the Contractor has no outstanding, delinquent obligations to the Commonwealth including, but not limited to, any state tax liability not being contested on appeal or other obligation of the Contractor that is owed to the Commonwealth.

h. The Contractor is not currently under suspension or debarment by the

Commonwealth, any other state or the federal government, and if the Contractor cannot so certify, then it shall submit along with its proposal a written explanation of why it cannot make such certification.

i. The Contractor has not made, under separate contract with the Issuing Office, any recommendations to the Issuing Office concerning the need for the services described in its proposal or the specifications for the services described in the proposal.

j. Each Contractor, by submitting its proposal, authorizes Commonwealth agencies to release to the Commonwealth information concerning the Contractor's Pennsylvania taxes, unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation liabilities.

k. Until the selected Contractor receives a fully executed purchase order from the Issuing

Office, there is no legal and valid contract, in law or in equity, and the Contractor shall not begin to perform work, for the Project.

I-17. Restriction Of Contact From the issue date of this RFQ until the Issuing Office selects a proposal as the best value, the Issuing Officer is the sole point of contact concerning this RFQ. Any violation of this condition may be cause for the Issuing Office to reject the offending Contractor's proposal.

If the Issuing Office later discovers that the Contractor has engaged in any violations of this condition, the Issuing Office may reject the offending Contractor's proposal or rescind its purchase order. Contractors must agree not to distribute any part of their proposals beyond the Issuing Office. A Contractor who shares information contained in its proposal with other Commonwealth personnel and/or competing Contractor personnel may be disqualified.

I-18. Prime Contractor Responsibilities The selected Contractor will be required to assume responsibility for all services offered in the proposal whether it produces them itself or by subcontract. The Issuing Office and Project Manager will consider the selected Contractor to be the sole point of contact with regard to contractual and purchase order matters.

I-19. Resources Contractors shall provide all services, supplies, facilities, and other support necessary to complete the identified work, except as otherwise provided in this Section I-19. The Issuing Office will provide at least one staff person in the Bureau of Planning, Research & Statistics to serve as the project officer for all evaluation and embedded researcher activities. The Issuing Office will provide interim use of appropriate office space, to include cubicle space, wi-fi and telephone access, where available.

I-20. Rejection Of Proposals The Issuing Office reserves the right, in its sole and complete discretion, to reject any proposal received in response to this RFQ, or to negotiate separately with competing Contractors.

I-21. Discussions for Clarification Contractors may be required to make an oral or written clarification of their proposals to the Issuing Office to ensure thorough mutual understanding and contractor responsiveness to the RFQ requirements. The Issuing Office will initiate requests for clarification.

I-22. Best and Final Offer (BAFO)

a. While not required, the Issuing Office reserves the right to conduct discussions with Contractors for the purpose of obtaining “Best and Final Offers.” To obtain Best and Final Offers from Contractors, the Issuing Office may do one or more of the following, in combination and in any order:

1. Schedule oral presentations;

2. Request revised proposals;

3. Conduct a reverse online auction; and

4. Enter into pre-selection negotiations.

b. The following Contractors will not be invited by the Issuing Office to submit a Best and Final Offer:

1. Those Contractors which the Issuing Office has determined to be not responsible or whose proposals the Issuing Office has determined to be not responsive.

2. Those Contractors, which the Issuing Office has determined in accordance with Part III, Section III-4, from the submitted and gathered financial and other information, do not possess the financial capability, experience or qualifications to assure good faith performance of the Project.

3. Those Contractors whose score for their technical submittal of the proposal is less than 70% of the total amount of technical points allotted to the technical criterion.

The Issuing Office may further limit participation in the Best and Final Offers process to those remaining responsible Contractors which the Issuing Office has, within its discretion, determined to be within the top competitive range of responsive proposals.

c. Evaluation Criteria found in Part III, Section III-3, shall also be used to evaluate the Best and Final Offers.

d. Price reductions offered through any reverse online auction shall have no effect upon the

Contractor’s Technical Submittal. Dollar commitments to Small Diverse Businesses can be reduced only in the same percentage as the percent reduction in the total price offered through any reverse online auction or negotiations.

I-23. Notification of Selection The Issuing Office will notify the selected Contractor in writing of its selection as the best value contractor after the Issuing Office has determined, taking into consideration all of the evaluation factors, the proposal that is the most advantageous to the Issuing Office.

I-24. Purchase Order The successful Contractor will be issued a purchase order with reference to Consulting Services ITQ Contract 4400007410. The term of the purchase order will commence on the Effective Date and will end on September 30, 2017 with potential for a one (1) year extension of the contract period and award of funds is contingent upon the availability and receipt of federal grant funding. No work may begin or be reimbursed prior to the date of issuance of the purchase order. The selected Contractor will be paid after submitting invoices, provided it is in accordance with the work plan and approved by the Commonwealth Project Manager. Final payment will not be made until all Project work has been successfully completed.

I-25. Debriefing Conferences Contractors whose proposals are not selected will be notified of the name of the selected contractor and given the opportunity to be debriefed. The Issuing Office will schedule the time and location of the debriefing. The debriefing will not compare the contractor with other contractors, other than the position of the Contractor's proposal in relation to all other contractor proposals.

I-26. News Releases Contractors shall not issue news releases, internet postings, advertisements or any other public communications pertaining to this Project without prior written approval of the Issuing Office, and then only in coordination with the Issuing Office.

I-27. Terms and Conditions The requirements and terms and conditions of Consulting Services ITQ #4400007410 shall govern all work conducted as a result of this RFQ.

PART II

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

II-1. General Requirements Contractors must submit their proposals in the format, including heading descriptions, outlined below. To be considered, the proposal must respond to all requirements in this part of the RFQ. Contractors should provide any other information thought to be relevant, but not applicable to the enumerated categories, as an appendix to the Proposal. All cost data relating to this proposal and all Small Diverse Business cost data should be kept separate from and not included in the Technical Submittal. Each Proposal shall consist of the following three separately sealed submittals:

a. Technical Submittal, which shall be a response to RFQ Part II, Sections II-1 through

II-8;

b. Small Diverse Business Submittal, in response to RFQ Part II, Section II-10; with

Small Diverse Business Letter of Intent, APPENDIX F; and

c. Cost Submittal, in response to RFQ Part II, Section II-10.

The Issuing Office reserves the right to request additional information which, in the Issuing Office’s opinion, is necessary to assure that the Contractor’s competence, number of qualified employees, business organization, and financial resources are adequate to perform according to the RFQ.

The Issuing Office may make investigations as deemed necessary to determine the ability of the Contractor to perform the Project, and the Contractor shall furnish to the Issuing Office all requested information and data. The Issuing Office reserves the right to reject any proposal if the evidence submitted by, or investigation of, such Contractor fails to satisfy the Issuing Office that such Contractor is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the RFQ and to complete the Project as specified.

II-2. Statement of the Problem State in succinct terms your understanding of the problem presented or the service required by this RFQ.

II-3. Management Summary Include a narrative description of the proposed effort and a list of the items to be delivered or services to be provided.

II-4. Work Plan Describe in narrative form your technical plan for accomplishing the work. Use the task descriptions in Part IV of this RFQ as your reference point. Modifications of the task descriptions are permitted; however, reasons for changes should be fully explained. Indicate the number of person hours allocated to each task. Include a Program Evaluation and Review

Technique (PERT) or similar type display, time related, showing each event. If more than one approach is apparent, comment on why you chose this approach.

II-5. Prior Experience Include experience in evaluating correctional interventions and recidivism reduction strategies, the ability to maintain independence and credibility for providing objective results, and capacity to manage subcontracts. If applicable, the Contractor should also indicate experience in evaluating risk assessment tools, case management/continuums, reentry network and performance measurement. [Experience shown should be work done by individuals who will be assigned to this project as well as that of your company. Studies or projects referred to must be identified and the name of the customer shown, including the name, address, and telephone number of the responsible official of the customer, company, or agency who may be contacted.

II-6. Personnel Include the number of executive and professional personnel, analysts, auditors, researchers, programmers, consultants, etc., who will be engaged in the work. Show where these personnel will be physically located during the time they are engaged in the Project. For key personnel such as the Project Manager(s), Research Associates and Assistants include the employee’s name and, through a resume or similar document, the employee’s education and experience in research methods, evaluation design and implementation including process and outcome evaluations. Indicate the responsibilities each individual will have in this Project and how long each has been with your company. Identify by name any subcontractors you intend to use and the services they will perform.

Resumes are not to include personal information that will, or will be likely to, require redaction prior to release of the proposal under the Right to Know Law. This includes home addresses and phone numbers, Social Security Numbers, Drivers’ License numbers or numbers from state ID cards issued in lieu of a Drivers’ License, financial account numbers, etc. If the Commonwealth requires any of this information for security verification or other purposes, the information will be requested separately and as necessary.

II-7. Financial Capability Describe your company’s financial stability and economic capability to perform the Project requirements. Provide your company’s financial statements (audited, if available) for the past three fiscal years. Financial statements must include the company’s Balance Sheet and Income Statement or Profit/Loss Statements. Also include a Dun & Bradstreet comprehensive report, if available. If your company is a publicly traded company, please provide a link to your financial records on your company website in lieu of providing hardcopies. The Commonwealth reserves the right to request additional information it deems necessary to evaluate a Contractor’s financial capability.

II-8. Emergency Preparedness.

To support continuity of operations during an emergency, including a pandemic, the Commonwealth needs a strategy for maintaining operations for an extended period of time.

One part of this strategy is to ensure that essential contracts that provide critical business services to the Commonwealth have planned for such an emergency and put contingencies in place to provide needed goods and services.

a. Describe how you anticipate such a crisis will impact your operations.

b. Describe your emergency response continuity of operations plan. Please attach a copy of your plan, or at a minimum, summarize how your plan addresses the following aspects of pandemic preparedness:

i) Employee training (describe your organization’s training plan, and how frequently your plan will be shared with employees)

ii) Identified essential business functions and key employees (within your organization) necessary to carry them out

iii) Contingency plans for:

How your organization will handle staffing issues when a portion of key employees are incapacitated due to illness.

How employees in your organization will carry out the essential functions if contagion control measures prevent them from coming to the primary workplace.

iv) How your organization will communicate with staff and suppliers when primary communications systems are overloaded or otherwise fail, including key contacts, chain of communications (including suppliers), etc.

v) How and when your emergency plan will be tested, and if the plan will be tested by a third-party.

II-9. Small Diverse Business Submittal

A. To receive credit for being a Small Diverse Business or for subcontracting with a Small Diverse Business (including purchasing supplies and/or services through a purchase agreement), a Contractor must include proof of Small Diverse Business qualification in the Small Diverse Business Submittal of the proposal, as indicated below:

A Small Diverse Business verified by BSBO as a Small Diverse Business must provide a photocopy of their verification letter.

B. In addition to the above verification letter, the Contractor must include in the Small

Diverse Business participation Submittal of the proposal the following information:

1) All Contractors, must include a numerical percentage which represents the total percentage of the work (as a percentage of the total cost in the Cost Submittal) to be performed by the Contractor and not by subcontractors and suppliers.

2) All Contractors must include a numerical percentage which represents the total percentage of the total cost in the Cost

Submittal that the Contractor commits to paying to Small Diverse Businesses as subcontractors. To support its total percentage SDB subcontractor commitment, Contractor must also include:

a) The percentage and the dollar amount of each subcontract commitment to a Small Diverse Business.

b) The name of each Small Diverse Business. The Contractor will not receive credit for stating that after the purchase order is issued it will find a Small Diverse Business.

c) The services or supplies each Small Diverse Business will provide, including the timeframe for providing the services or supplies.

d) The location where each Small Diverse Business will perform services.

e) The timeframe for each Small Diverse Business to provide or deliver the goods or services.

f) A subcontract or letter of intent signed by the Offeror and the Small Diverse Business (SDB) for each SDB identified in the SDB Submittal. The subcontract or letter of intent must identify the specific work, goods or services the SDB will perform, how the work, goods or services relates to the project, and the specific timeframe during the term of the contract and any option/renewal periods when the work, goods or services will be performed or provided. In addition, the subcontract or letter of intent must identify the fixed percentage commitment and associated estimated dollar value that each SDB will receive based on the total value of the initial term of the contract as provided in the Offeror's Cost Submittal. Attached is a letter of intent template which may be used to satisfy these requirements.

g) The name, address and telephone number of the primary contact person for each Small Diverse Business.

3) The total percentages and each subcontractor commitment will become contractual obligations once the Purchase Order is issued.

4) The name and telephone number of the Contractor’s project (contact) person for the Small Diverse Business information.

C. The Contractor is required to submit two (2) copies of its Small Business participation Business Submittal. The submittal shall be clearly identified as Small Diverse Business information and sealed in its own envelope, separate from the remainder of the proposal.

D. A Small Diverse Business can be included as a subcontractor with as many prime contractors as it chooses in separate proposals.

E. A Contractor that qualifies as a Small Diverse Business and submits a proposal as a prime contractor is not prohibited from being included as a subcontractor in separate proposals submitted by other Contractors.

II-10. Cost Submittal

The information requested in this Section II-11 and Appendix C shall constitute the Cost Submittal. The Cost Submittal shall be placed in a separate sealed envelope within the sealed proposal and kept separate from the technical submittal. The total cost you are proposing must be broken down into the components listed on Appendix C.

a. Direct Labor Costs. Itemize to show the following for each category of personnel with a different hourly rate:

i) Category (e.g., partner, project manager, analyst, senior auditor, research associate)

ii) Estimated hours

iii) Rate per hour

iv) Total cost for each category and for all direct labor costs

b. Labor Overhead. Specify what is included and rate used.

c. Travel and Subsistence. Itemize transportation, lodging and meals per diem costs separately. Travel and subsistence costs must conform with the requirements of the most current version of Commonwealth Management Directive 230.10, Travel and Subsistence Allowances. The Issuing Office may accept higher rates normally paid by a Contractor, if those rates were approved by the Contractor’s officials and published prior to submitting this proposal to the Issuing Office.

d. Consultant Costs. Itemize as in (a) above.

e. Subcontract Costs. Itemize as in (a) above.

f. Cost of Supplies and Materials. Itemize.

g. Other Direct Costs. Itemize.

h. General Overhead Costs. Overhead includes two major categories of cost, operations overhead and general and administrative overhead. Operations overhead includes costs that are not 100% attributable to the service being completed, but are generally associated with the recurring management or support of the service. General and administrative overhead includes salaries, equipment and other costs related to headquarters management external to the service, but in support of the activity being completed. Specify what specific items are included and the rates used.

i. Total Cost.

Contractors should not include any assumptions in their cost submittals. If the Contractor includes assumptions in its cost submittal, the Issuing Office may reject the proposal.

Contractors should direct in writing to the Issuing Office pursuant to Part I, Section I-6 of this RFQ, any questions about whether a cost or other component is included or applies. All Contractors will then have the benefit of the Issuing Office’s written answer so that all proposals are submitted on the same basis.

II-11. Domestic Workforce Utilization Contractors must complete and sign the Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification attached to and made a part of this RFQ as Appendix B. Contractors who seek consideration for the Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification criterion must complete, sign and submit the Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification Form in the same sealed envelope with the Technical Submittal.

II-12. Lobbying Certification and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities This Project will be funded, in whole or in part, with federal monies. Public Law 101-121, Section 319, prohibits federal funds from being expended by the recipient or by any lower tier sub-recipients of a federal contract, grant, loan, or a cooperative agreement to pay any person for influencing, or attempting to influence a federal agency or Congress in connection with the awarding of any federal contract, the making of any federal grant or loan, or entering into any cooperative agreement. All parties who submit proposals in response to this RFQ must sign the “Lobbying Certification Form,” (attached as Appendix D) and, if applicable, complete the “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities” form available at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/omb/grants/sflllin.pdf.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/omb/grants/sflllin.pdf

PART III

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

III-1. Mandatory Responsiveness Requirements. To be eligible for selection, a proposal must be:

A. Timely received from an Contractor;

B. Properly signed by the Contractor.

III-2. Technical Nonconforming Proposals. The two (2) Mandatory Responsiveness Requirements set forth in Section III-1 above (A-B) are the only RFQ requirements that the Commonwealth will consider to be non-waivable. The Issuing Office reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (1) waive any other technical or immaterial nonconformities in an Contractor’s proposal, (2) allow the Contractor to cure the nonconformity, or (3) consider the nonconformity in the scoring of the Contractor’s proposal.

III-3. Evaluation. The Issuing Office has selected a committee of qualified personnel to review and evaluate timely submitted proposals. Independent of the committee, BSBO will evaluate the Small Diverse Business participation submittal and provide the Issuing Office with a rating for this component of each proposal. The Issuing Office will notify in writing the responsible Contractor whose proposal is determined to offer the best value to the Commonwealth as determined by the Issuing Office after taking into consideration all of the evaluation factors.

III-4. Evaluation Criteria. The following criteria will be used in evaluating each proposal:

A. Technical: The Issuing Office has established the weight for the Technical criterion for this RFQ as 50% of the total points. Evaluation will be based upon the following in order of importance: Soundness of Approach, Personnel Qualifications, Offeror Qualifications, and Statement of the Problem. The final Technical scores are determined by giving the maximum number of technical points available to the proposal with the highest raw technical score. The remaining proposals are rated by applying the Technical Scoring Formula set forth at the following webpage:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/RFQ_scoring_formulas_ov erview/20124.

B. Cost: The Issuing Office has established the weight for the Cost criterion for this RFQ as

30% of the total points. The cost criterion is rated by giving the proposal with the lowest total cost the maximum number of Cost points available. The remaining proposals are rated by applying the Cost Formula set forth at the following webpage:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/RFQ_scoring_formulas_ov erview/20124 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/rfp_scoring_formulas_overview/20124

C. Small Diverse Business Participation:

BSBO has established the weight for the Small Diverse Business (SDB) participation criterion for this RFQ as 20 % of the total points. Each SDB participation submittal will be rated for its approach to enhancing the utilization of SDBs in accordance with the below-listed priority ranking and subject to the following requirements:

1. A business submitting a proposal as a prime contractor must perform 60% of the total contract value to receive points for this criterion under any priority ranking.

2. To receive credit for an SDB subcontracting commitment, the SDB subcontractor must perform at least fifty percent (50%) of the work subcontracted to it.

3. A significant subcontracting commitment is a minimum of five percent (5%) of the total Purchase Order value.

4. A subcontracting commitment less than five percent (5%) of the total Purchase Order value is considered nominal and will receive reduced or no additional SDB points depending on the priority ranking.

Priority Rank 1: Proposals submitted by SDBs as prime Contractors will receive 150 points. In addition, SDB prime Contractors that have significant subcontracting commitments to additional SDBs may receive up to an additional 50 points (200 points total available).

Subcontracting commitments to additional SDBs are evaluated based on the proposal offering the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment. All other Contractors will be scored in proportion to the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment within this ranking. See formula below.

Priority Rank 2: Proposals submitted by SDBs as prime contractors, with no or nominal subcontracting commitments to additional SDBs, will receive 150 points.

Priority Rank 3: Proposals submitted by non-small diverse businesses as prime contractors, with significant subcontracting commitments to SDBs, will receive up to 100 points. Proposals submitted with nominal subcontracting commitments to SDBs will receive points equal to the percentage level of their total SDB subcontracting commitment.

SDB subcontracting commitments are evaluated based on the proposal offering the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment. All other Contractors will be scored in proportion to the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment within this ranking. See formula below.

Priority Rank 4: Proposals by non-small diverse businesses as prime contractors with no SDB subcontracting commitments shall receive no points under this criterion.

To the extent that there are multiple SDB Participation submittals in Priority Rank 1 and/or Priority Rank 3 that offer significant subcontracting commitments to SDBs, the proposal offering the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment shall receive the highest score (or additional points) available in that Priority Rank category and the other proposal(s) in that category shall be scored in proportion to the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment. Proportional scoring is determined by applying the following formula:

SDB % Being Scored x Points/Additional = Awarded/Additional Highest % SDB Commitment Points Available* SDB Points

Priority Rank 1 = 50 Additional Points Available Priority Rank 3 = 100 Total Points Available

Please refer to the following webpage for an illustrative chart which shows SDB scoring based on a hypothetical situation in which the Commonwealth receives proposals for each Priority Rank:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/RFQ_scoring_formulas _overview/20124

D. Domestic Workforce Utilization: Any points received for the Domestic Workforce Utilization criterion are bonus points in addition to the total points for this RFQ. The maximum amount of bonus points available for this criterion is 3% of the total points for this RFQ.

To the extent permitted by the laws and treaties of the United States, each proposal will be scored for its commitment to use domestic workforce in the fulfillment of the project. Maximum consideration will be given to those Contractors who will perform the contracted direct labor exclusively within the geographical boundaries of the United States or within the geographical boundaries of a country that is a party to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement. Those who propose to perform a portion of the direct labor outside of the United States and not within the geographical boundaries of a party to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement will receive a correspondingly smaller score for this criterion. See the following webpage for the Domestic Workforce Utilization Formula:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/rfp_scoring_formulas_ overview/20124. Contractors who seek consideration for this criterion must submit in hardcopy the signed Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification Form in the same sealed envelope with the Technical Submittal. The certification will be included as a contractual obligation when the Purchase Order is executed.

III-5. Contractor Responsibility. To be responsible, a Contractor must submit a responsive proposal and possess the capability to fully perform the project requirements in all respects and the integrity and reliability to assure good faith performance of the project.

In order for an Contractor to be considered responsible for this RFQ and therefore eligible for selection for best and final offers or selection for contract negotiations:

A. The total score for the technical submittal of the Contractor’s proposal must be greater than or equal to 70% of the available technical points; and

B. The Contractor’s financial information must demonstrate that the Contractor possesses the financial capability to assure good faith performance of the project.

The Issuing Office will review the Contractor’s previous three financial statements, any additional information received from the Contractor, and any other publicly-available financial information concerning the Contractor, and assess each Contractor’s financial capacity based on calculating and analyzing various financial ratios, and comparison with industry standards and trends.

A Contractor which fails to demonstrate sufficient financial capability to assure good faith performance of the project as specified herein may be considered by the Issuing Office, in its sole discretion, for Best and Final Offers or project negotiation contingent upon such Contractor providing project performance security for the first project year cost proposed by the Contractor in a form acceptable to the Issuing Office. Based on the financial condition of the Contractor, the Issuing Office may require a certified or bank (cashier’s) check, letter of credit, or a performance bond conditioned upon the faithful performance of the project by the Contractor. The required performance security must be issued or executed by a bank or surety company authorized to do business in the Commonwealth. The cost of the required performance security will be the sole responsibility of the Contractor and cannot increase the Contractor’s cost proposal or the project cost to the Commonwealth.

Further, the Issuing Office will award a project only to a Contractor determined to be responsible in accordance with the most current version of Commonwealth Management Directive 215.9, Contractor Responsibility Program.

III-6. Final Ranking and Award.

A. After any best and final offer process conducted, the Issuing Office will combine the evaluation committee’s final technical scores, BSBO’s final small diverse business participation scores, the final cost scores, and (when applicable) the domestic workforce utilization scores, in accordance with the relative weights assigned to these areas as set forth in this Part.

B. The Issuing Office will rank responsible Contractors according to the total overall score assigned to each, in descending order.

C. The Issuing Office must select as the Best Value Contractor…